Home Brewers

#608
#608
SamRebel35 said:
Wow, this is awesome! How much hops do you think it will produce once it is grown?
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Thanks, not much if any this year. I may get some this year and a bit more next year but they don't produce a full yield till year three. Once they mature I should get roughly three pounds of dried hops per vine. I have four vines of Cascade and four of Sterling.
 
#609
#609
Hopvol said:
Thanks, not much if any this year. I may get some this year and a bit more next year but they don't produce a full yield till year three. Once they mature I should get roughly three pounds of dried hops per vine. I have four vines of Cascade and four of Sterling.
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How far will 24 lbs of hops per year take you as far as home brewing is concerned? That seems like it should be more than enough provided you are brewing within the limits of the annual allowance.
 
#610
#610
SamRebel35 said:
How far will 24 lbs of hops per year take you as far as home brewing is concerned? That seems like it should be more than enough provided you are brewing within the limits of the annual allowance.
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It should last me quite a while. The problem is I use alot of different hops, I should have only done one or two of each and got more varieties. I may dig some up and do some trading in my home brew club next spring.

Sterlings are typically used for lagers and light ales and those brews dont require much hop bitterness so they will last a long time. I will definitely have to get rid of a couple vines next year.

Cascades are one of my favorites. They are mostly for IPAs and give a citrusy or grapefruit flavor. I am working on a house IPA recipe now that has 10 oz for a ten gallon batch. Ten gallons of a good IPA may last about six weeks at my house so over the course of a year if my math is right that would be roughly six lbs which leave plenty for other beers and trading.
 
#614
#614
Hopvol said:
No, Ive never had any formal training. Just alot of trial and error.
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Gotcha. I am writing up a business plan for a craft brewery. Trying to get a grasp on how much work a brew master takes care of in the process and how much they need to delegate to assistants. I want a 20 bbl brewery and am trying to get an idea of how many employees it will require.
 
#615
#615
SamRebel35 said:
Gotcha. I am writing up a business plan for a craft brewery. Trying to get a grasp on how much work a brew master takes care of in the process and how much they need to delegate to assistants. I want a 20 bbl brewery and am trying to get an idea of how many employees it will require.
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I would say that would vary. In a large commercial brewery a brew master may be a management role where in a small craft brewery, especially a start up he may be doing just about everything involved in the brew process. A guy in our local brew club is starting a small brewery BriarScratch Brewing | Official site of The BriarScratch Brewery and I believe he does just about everything himself. We have another member who now works for Sweetwater and I would bet their brewmaster is mainly managing the process.
 
#616
#616
Hopvol said:
I would say that would vary. In a large commercial brewery a brew master may be a management role where in a small craft brewery, especially a start up he may be doing just about everything involved in the brew process. A guy in our local brew club is starting a small brewery BriarScratch Brewing | Official site of The BriarScratch Brewery and I believe he does just about everything himself. We have another member who now works for Sweetwater and I would bet their brewmaster is mainly managing the process.
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Wow, he is brewing a ton of varieties. Looks really cool though.
 
#617
#617
Error from northern brewer and Austin home brew supply in my favor!

NB sent me two 6 lb jugs of extract instead of 3.15 and Austin sent wrong hops. Sending more no charge.

Now I about a pound of DME and I got a free batch! Going to try and save the yeast from one and use for the next.

Hop, educate me on that. 1-2-3 go!
 
#618
#618
USAF_Vol said:
Error from northern brewer and Austin home brew supply in my favor!

NB sent me two 6 lb jugs of extract instead of 3.15 and Austin sent wrong hops. Sending more no charge.

Now I about a pound of DME and I got a free batch! Going to try and save the yeast from one and use for the next.

Hop, educate me on that. 1-2-3 go!
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You basically want to "wash" the yeast to separate the good yeast from the trub. You do this by mixing boiled (to sterilize) then cooled water into the primary after beer is racked off. Mix it up good then pour into a large jar. Let it settle for 20 or 30 minutes. It will separate into layers but sometimes in the first jar they are hard to see. Pour the liquid and yeast on top into a 2nd jar. I usually add a little more sanitized water, shake it all up again and let settle. This time you should see a creamy white layer. This is your good yeast.

The last thing I do that most people don't is pour the liquid and that creamy white layer into a third jar but I don't add any more water. I shake this up and immediately pour into whatever I am storing the yeast in without letting it settle. I have saved several White Labs yeast vials over the years and I built a holder for them so that's what I use but small jars will work fine. Mark them with the strain of yeast, date, and what generation this is. Your first wash will be Gen 1. if you save the yeast from the beer you make with it that would be Gen 2 and so on. Most people recommend not going over 4 or 5 generations. Put them in the fridge and after a day or two you will see the creamy white yeast settled to the bottom. Use this to make a starter just like you would normally.

Some people say not to store more than a month, some say 4 or 5 months. I just made a batch from yeast I washed 6 months ago with no problems. Washing yeast is a great way to save a little money and I think its pretty cool to be able to have your own yeast bank.

Let me know if you have any questions. There are also some pretty good articles on line with pictures and youtube videos.
 
#619
#619
I finally got my water filtration system on my brew stand. No more getting on a ladder to pour gallons of water in the hot liquor tank!
 

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#621
#621
Hey Hop, I had a friend give me a batch of dried lemongrass that he uses for brewing and cooking and such. What style beer would you say it would go best in? I was thinking about adding it to the boil with about 20 minutes left (along with the hops) and letting it steep for another 15 min or so at flame-out.

I was thinking about adding it to a hefe, or a belgian white, but i'm not sure what would go best with a lemon essence. I've got enough lemongrass for a 3 gallon batch, but will be putting it in a 5 gallon batch, so the flavor will be very mild.
 
#623
#623
supersmo18 said:
Hey Hop, I had a friend give me a batch of dried lemongrass that he uses for brewing and cooking and such. What style beer would you say it would go best in? I was thinking about adding it to the boil with about 20 minutes left (along with the hops) and letting it steep for another 15 min or so at flame-out.

I was thinking about adding it to a hefe, or a belgian white, but i'm not sure what would go best with a lemon essence. I've got enough lemongrass for a 3 gallon batch, but will be putting it in a 5 gallon batch, so the flavor will be very mild.
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I would go with a Belgian white. Here’s a Belgian White recipe with Lemongrass.

Name Type #
4 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 1
4 lbs 8.0 oz Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 2
1 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 3
1 lbs Rice, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4
1.0 oz Hallertau [2.4%] - Boil 60 min Hops 5
0.5 oz Super Alpha [13.0%] - Boil 10 min Hops 6
1.00 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5 min) Misc 7
1.00 oz Lemongrass (Boil 5 min) Misc 8
0.75 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5 min) Misc 9
1 pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) Yeast
 
#624
#624
Hopvol said:
I would go with a Belgian white. Here’s a Belgian White recipe with Lemongrass.

Name Type #
4 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 1
4 lbs 8.0 oz Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 2
1 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 3
1 lbs Rice, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4
1.0 oz Hallertau [2.4%] - Boil 60 min Hops 5
0.5 oz Super Alpha [13.0%] - Boil 10 min Hops 6
1.00 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5 min) Misc 7
1.00 oz Lemongrass (Boil 5 min) Misc 8
0.75 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5 min) Misc 9
1 pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) Yeast
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Thanks man! I'm still intermediate though and am looking to do partial mash. I don't have the set up needed for all-grain, nor the knowledge, and I do have a new baby girl, so the all-grain setup will have to wait. I'll definitely look into some Belgian whites for this recipe though.
 
#625
#625
supersmo18 said:
Thanks man! I'm still intermediate though and am looking to do partial mash. I don't have the set up needed for all-grain, nor the knowledge, and I do have a new baby girl, so the all-grain setup will have to wait. I'll definitely look into some Belgian whites for this recipe though.
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You could do one of these extract kits. The 2nd has coriander and orange peel so adding lemongrass may be too much. Depends on your personal taste.

Lefse Blonde Extract Kit : Northern Brewer

Witbier Extract Kit : Northern Brewer
 
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